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A-B-Skis and Goodnight Chairlift

Created by Libby Ludlow

Books and merch from A-B-Skis, the brand behind award-winning children's books about skiing.

Latest Updates from Our Project:

It's a Christmas Miracle! Books Shipping Soon
over 2 years ago – Thu, Dec 23, 2021 at 09:26:07 AM

Hi Backers!

Christmas arrived a few days early! Yesterday afternoon--after days of phone calls to the trucking companies responsible for delivering the books, and negotiating (pestering?) for an early delivery--nearly three tons of books were dropped on my driveway. 

Sometimes Santa wears Carhartt

I immediately got to work unloading pallets, signing books, and processing orders.Thanks to the help of my husband Jake, and our friend Ryan, we packed over 200 orders last night. Today, I'll be labeling parcels and working on the remaining ~100 orders. That means most of your orders will go in the mail tomorrow! Not in time for Christmas, but a little bit ahead of what I expected when I learned a week ago that the books still hadn't been offloaded from the ship.

A few important things:

  • A good handful of you haven't completed your BackerKit survey. I can't fulfill your order until you do that, so please, be sure to find the emails from BackerKit in your inbox, click on the link, and complete the survey. You are in no way obligated to add any "add-ons" to your order, but I do need your shipping address.
  • If you added Nory the Bunny to your order on BackerKit, I am not going to ship your books until the bunnies arrive in early January so that all of your items ship together. If you ordered a bunny and would like to receive your books earlier than mid-January, please send me a message immediately and I will try to send your books asap.

Thanks so much for all of your patience and support through this project. Goodnight Chairlift wouldn't have been possible without you! I'll reach out one last time after all of your orders have shipped, but in the meantime, I encourage you to follow A-B-Skis on Instagram and tag @a_b_skis on your unboxing experiences! And if you have comments or questions about Goodnight Chairlift, send me an email at [email protected] :) 

Happiest holidays to you. I hope your winter brings all of the joy, laughter, and hoots & hollars of a good powder day.

With gratitude,

Libby

Click to see a time-lapse of Libby signing books!

Going on TWO Months...
over 2 years ago – Tue, Dec 14, 2021 at 06:43:31 PM

Hi Backers,

As of today, the container ship carrying Goodnight Chairlift has been at the Long Beach port for nearly TWO months! While the ship finally berthed (parked) on December 5th, the container still hasn't been off-loaded and made available to the freight forwarder yet. Things are moving slow. 

If the books are delivered to me by December 21st, then you should receive your orders by the end of December. If I haven't received the books by the 21st, however, then you can expect to receive your orders in mid-January. (I will be traveling to visit family over the holidays and will be unable to fulfill orders during that time.) Unfortunately, my freight forwarder has suggested that the January timeline is the more probable one.

In the meantime, if you haven't already completed the survey from BackerKit, please search your inbox and find your emails from them. 94% of you have completed the survey (nice work!), but I still need the remainder of you to fill it out.  (And, as I mentioned in my last update, if you're looking to buy any copies of A-B-Skis in the next month, I recommend adding it to your order as an add-on. All of my A-B-Skis inventory is on the same container ship as Goodnight Chairlift, so adding A-B-Skis to your order may be the fastest way to get a copy since Amazon is sold out and it usually several weeks for them to replenish inventory once I ship it to them.)

Thanks for your continued patience and support through all of this. 

Wishing you the most joyful, fun, and powder-filled holiday season! 

With Gratitude,

Libby

A sneak peek for being so patient!

Shipping Delays Continue
over 2 years ago – Fri, Nov 19, 2021 at 01:51:54 PM

Hi Backers!

Most Americans are learning about the supply chain crisis through the news, but you continue to get a front row seat by experiencing it first-hand. (Lucky you, right?!)

Although the container ship carrying Goodnight Chairlift arrived at the port on 10/24, I've been informed that now it will not berth until 12/5, and that the pallets will not reach me until sometime between 12/17 - 12/31. I should be able to ship all of your orders within 48 hours of receiving the books,  but as you can see, delivery before Christmas is not looking very likely.  (My husband works in supply chain and tells me that even 12/31 seems ambitious to him. Yikes.)

I'm going to remain optimistic and hope for a miraculous ground delivery,  but unfortunately at this stage I wouldn't count on receiving your books before Christmas. I am sincerely sorry for the delay. Although the cause of this is completely out of my hands, know that I'm doing everything I can to expedite the process. You, our Kickstarter Backers, continue to be the priority, and even though my wholesale accounts have over 1,000 copies of Goodnight Chairlift on pre-order, YOU will be the first to receive it. You are the ones who made the print order possible. Nathan and I are so grateful for your support.

Please look for the BackerKit survey in your inbox. It's vital that you submit a current mailing address in order to receive your order. (Pro tip: If you're looking to buy any copies of A-B-Skis in the next month, I recommend adding it to your Kickstarter order as an add-on. All of my A-B-Skis inventory is on the same container ship as Goodnight Chairlift, so adding A-B-Skis to your order may be the fastest way to get a copy after Amazon sells out, which will probably happen within the next week or so.)

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Warmly,

Libby



Shipping Update, Watch for Surveys , and Plush Bunny
over 2 years ago – Mon, Nov 15, 2021 at 01:49:48 PM

Hi Backers!

This is a long, but important update. Please take the time to read it through completely!


BOOKS DELAYED AT PORT, BUT HOLIDAY DELIVERY POSSIBLE

The good news is that the container ship carrying your books--which has now been anchored off the California coast for three weeks--is scheduled to moor tomorrow! The bad news is that it takes several days to unload the cargo, and then a few more weeks to get the pallets onto a truck for delivery. I spoke with my freight forwarder and they estimate the shipment will arrive where I live in Boise the second week of December. This obviously is not optimal news, but it is also very much out of our control. It is disappointing, but not surprising, that your books got slowed down by the port bottlenecks plaguing the supply chain right now.

Where the container ship carrying your books has sat for the last three weeks

That being said, a few items for you to consider:

  •  NATHAN'S AUTOGRAPH. Given the later-than-expected delivery timeline, unfortunately there won't be time to have my amazing illustrator Nathan autograph all of the books as originally planned and also deliver books before Christmas. Initially I was planning to drive all of the books to Park City so that Nathan and I could sign them in one sitting before shipping them out, but now there won't be time to do that before the holidays. I absolutely CAN still offer books with both my and Nathan's autograph, but I would not be able to deliver those books until mid-January. If you absolutely want Nathan's autograph in your books, and don't mind waiting for a January delivery date, then please send me a message via Kickstarter and I'll gladly make it happen. Unless I hear from you, I will assume that you'd prefer your book(s) to have only Libby's autograph and the soonest possible delivery.  Find instructions on how to send a message below my signature. 
  •  TIGHT TIMING. If the books get delayed any more than they already are, and you value a pre-Christmas delivery more than autographs, there may not be time for me to sign the books either. I'm not making the call yet--we will cross this bridge if/when we come to it--but there's a possibility that you may have to choose between having an autographed book and pre-holiday delivery. I'll stay in touch about this.
  •  HOLIDAY DELIVERY. While I will do absolutely everything in my power to deliver your books before the holidays, and I feel pretty confident right now that I can make it happen, there still is a chance that--even with eliminating the very time-consuming step of autographing--your orders may not arrive before Christmas. If showing up at a little skier/boarder's doorstep on Christmas empty-handed would result in soul-crushing disappointment, it might be a good idea to consider alternative gift options. I will of course keep you posted as we get closer to the date.

WATCH YOUR INBOX FOR A SURVEY FROM BACKERKIT!

Later this week, you will receive a survey from my fulfillment manager BackerKit. The survey is your opportunity to add any additional items to your order (like more books or the plush bunny pictured below!), but most importantly, it is your opportunity to provide your current shipping address. Please be sure to complete the survey so I know where to ship your order when the books arrive! Please don't forget to complete this very important step. BackerKit will continue to ping you until you complete the survey. 


PLUSH 'NORY THE BUNNY' NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER

I'm very excited to announce that a plush version of the bunny featured throughout Goodnight Chairlift is now available for pre-order! It's super cute, ridiculously soft, and the perfect companion for bedtime reading. Don't miss the option to select Nory the Bunny as an "add-on" when you complete your BackerKit survey!


Whew! Thanks so much for your patience and support. I'll be in touch as the delivery timeline becomes more clear. 

With Gratitude,

Libby


To message me from your desktop:

  • Visit the Goodnight Chairlift project page 
  • Click on my profile name in the upper right corner
  • Scroll to the bottom of my bio page
  • Click the blue "Contact me" button to send me a message via Kickstarter

Goodnight Chairlift is Crossing the Pacific!
over 2 years ago – Mon, Oct 18, 2021 at 09:57:11 PM

Hi Backers!

I'm happy to report that your copies of Goodnight Chairlift have been printed, bound, and loaded onto a giant container ship headed for the United States. The ship is due to arrive at the Long Beach port in less than a week, but I'm still not expecting the shipment to arrive on my driveway for another month. As you may have seen on the news, there are big backlogs at U.S. ports, so it will probably take several more weeks for the books to be unloaded, clear customs, and get onto a truck. That being said, I am confident that, with a full two months before Christmas, and the Long Beach port now processing shipments 24 hours per day, I should be able to deliver your orders by early December.

The actual vessel transporting your copies of Goodnight Chairlift from Korea!

I was able to get a few copies of Goodnight Chairlift air-freighted in advance, and it looks amazing! For those of you who already own A-B-Skis, you can expect Goodnight Chairlift to match and exceed it in quality. Perhaps the best sign yet, however, is that my son has been burying his nose (with zero prompting from mom--rare!) trying to find all of the Silly Search items that Nathan hid in the illustrations ;-)

I'll be reaching out in several weeks with an update and to collect your current shipping addresses. In the meantime, are you following A-B-Skis on Instagram yet? If not, give a follow for all of the latest!

With Gratitude,

Libby